2019-Flexible Volunteering: Ecosystem Restoration @ High Line Canal in Aurora #3

Start Date-End Date: 09/10/2019-09/10/2019 Land Manager Office: City of Aurora Land Manager Contact: Eric Watts Funding Partner: High Line Canal Conservancy Programmatic Partner: Summary: No registration required! Help a riparian corridor thrive on this Tuesday project. Description: No registration required! Click here for important detailsand click here to add to your calendar. Where You'll Be: The 71-mile High Line Canal is one of the longest and most spectacular linear parks in the nation. The trail that runs along the historic irrigation ditch connects more than 500,000 community members to nature while weaving though countless landscapes along the way. On its northeastern end in Aurora, the Canal surrounds DeLaney Farm Historic District - a 158-acre historic site and community farm situated on one of metro-Denver's most scenic and rare pastoral areas. *Please note there are no bathrooms on site. Parking is available at 16300 E Centretech Pkwy, Aurora, CO 80011 (the Centre Hills Disc Golf Course). Directions from Denver: Take 14th Ave East to Yosemite Turn right onto Yosemite After 0.4 miles, turn left onto 11th Ave In 0.5 miles, take a slight right onto Dayton St. In 0.4 miles, turn left onto E 6th Ave In 3.6 miles turn right onto @ Centretech Pkwy (start looking for VOC directional signs!) Turn left in 0.8 miles The large parking lot will be on your right What You'll Do: Looking for an easy way to get outside and give back to your community? Look no further! Through our partnership with the High Line Canal Conservancy, volunteers ages 8+ are invited to spend a Tuesday evening removing invasive weeds from the area around the High Line Canal in Aurora. Water and light snacks will be provided and no registration is required, making this the perfect, fuss-free way to volunteer close-to-home. Why It Matters: Noxious weeds are more than just plants that are out of place. They are non-native and considered invasive as they have the ability to crowed out native vegetation, crops, and other desirable vegetation. They can also pose a risk to public health and safety by thorns, pollen and toxicity.Your efforts will go a long way in keeping this riparian corridor healthy for years to come! Need-to-Know Details: Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or olderon single-day projects. VOC will provide all equipmentincluding tools and work gloves. About Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is the state's oldest, largest, and leading outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. Founded in 1984 to motivate and enable people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources, VOC has engaged nearly 120,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $24 million. Through award-winning youth and volunteer programs, leadership training, capacity-building programs, and collaborative efforts with nonprofits and land management agencies, VOC is an invaluable resource in Colorado, especially as our outdoor stewardship needs are approaching near-crisis levels. For more information, visitwww.voc.orgor call 303-715-1010. About the High Line Canal Conservancy The High Line Canal Conservancyis a tax-exempt nonprofit that was formed in 2014 by a passionate coalition of private citizens to provide leadership and harness the region's commitment to protecting the future of the High Line Canal. Visithighlinecanal.org. Latitude/Longitude: 39.714722, -104.799944 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 25 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 14 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Volunteer Days: 16 Total Unique Volunteers: 16 Total Volunteer Hours: 42 Staff Hours: 7 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: This was the 3rd High Line Canal weed removal project in collaboration with the High Line Canal Conservancy. The project followed the flexible model, as did the 2nd project. Two VOC and two HLCC staff arrived on site at 4pm to set up registration tables and a tent which was promptly blown over by gale force winds. At 5pm only 5 volunteers had arrived, but a large group (15 or so) showed up at 510pm. HLCC staff gave a comprehensive and rather long winded introduction, and VOC staff provided tool and safety talk. Tools were: gloves, loppers, hand shears, mini-picks, pixies, buckets, heavy duty trash bags. Buckets proved very useful. Volunteers split into two groups: group 1 went North to clean up a previously weeded area and remove curled dock; group 2 went south and tackled a stand of common teasel. After these two areas were weeded all volunteers went to a 3rd site where there was extensive canada thistle. A few leafy spurge plants were removed as well. In total close to 280 lbs of weeds were removed from the canal site. Work ended at 645pm. Volunteers completed a post project survey, VOC did a raffle, and HLCC staff gave a protracted and bromidic dissertation on their upcoming fundraiser. Volunteers seemed to have a good time despite some itchiness and overly loquacious oration. Successes and Challenges: Project was short, easy, and satisfying. Many volunteers stated appreciation for a weekday evening event close to home. The wind was a challenge during setup. It was made more problematic by the deluge of paperwork; waivers for both VOC and HLC, registration/contact cards, project surveys. I believe we spent more time writing on clipboards than pulling weeds. Lessons Learned: Buckets are very useful intermediaries before bagging weeds. Canada thistle can be removed most easily by hand, but long sleeve shirts are recommended. Long pants should be highly recommended - those in shorts were visibly uncomfortable due to several irritating plants. There are no restrooms on site. Providing one should be a prerequisite for future collaborations. Many participants showed up just after 5, suggesting that perhaps they were on their way home from work. A 530pm start time may be more appealing to these volunteers. HLCC saw this as an HLCC project with tools provided by VOC. They are young and eager to grow, so this is understandable, but there needs to be more dialogue before future projects about roles and how each organization is acknowledged. I think volunteers understood it to be a 50/50 collaboration between the 2 groups, but speaking time was 90/10 HLCC to VOC. Special Notes: NA Stewardship Education: HLCC staff talked at length about the history of the canal and the organization, as well as the current weed removal project. Some education was provided on the 4 target weeds. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Volunteer and crew leader in training Steve Smith sent the following email post project: You asked for honest feedback, so here it is along with some questions from a crew leader trainee. If I was VOC I wouldn't mind pre-registration to allow assessment of who is attending. I wouldn't allow many volunteers to use the mini pick mattock and lopers. Or in other words, only allow volunteers that already know how to use them. The young kids scare me. Some volunteers seem to be pulling everything in the canal. Alex found an abundance of Canadian thistle which could have kept the whole group busy. Since the teasel is already dormant, why not just remove the top half that fits into the bag easier and leave the stalk behind? I found using the pruners to be the best. You snip and then you use the pruners as mini-grabber and put in bag. You then don't get the thorns in the gloves. I like coming out and working with Michelle and Shannon. Alex's vibe always seems to get more output from volunteers. I think everyone had fun and nobody got hurt. How many people will return and volunteer? Let me know if I have anything wrong. Steve Description of Accidents/Incidents: NA Description of Work Completed: